Last month we paid a style tribute to George HW Bush. But since then the preppiest prez has made news a couple more times, so we’ll give him an encore with a focus on one of his trademark style quirks.

No, we don’t mean his socks.

True, it was his hosiery that got mentioned in the media this week when President Obama toasted Bush for his charity work. Bush, who’s lately been known for his wacky socks, came bearing a sock gift for Obama. (President Clinton, you’ll recall, had a cat named Socks that roamed the White House, but no penchant for colorful hosiery.)

And previously, on the Fourth of July, GQ paid homage to Bush with a slideshow that included a couple of photos we hadn’t seen before. These photos included Bush’s preppy penchant before he turned to socks, namely striped watchbands.

Nylon watchbands evidently have their origins in the military, but when and how did they become associated with prepdom? If you have any insight, please leave a comment and share.

Striped watchbands were already a preppy classic/cliché by 1979, when the “Are You A Preppie?” poster was made:

I’ve been wearing my watches on nylon straps ever since my junior year of college when me and my friends rediscovered the glory of James Bond movies and we watched Goldfinger. Seeing Sean Connery’s submariner on that nylon strap looked so cool to me. This was also circa 2006 or seven before J.Crew started marketing the straps and they became “in.” I threw my CWC Royal Navy Diver on a black and gray striped “James Bond Nato” and got compliments on it where ever I went. I still wear the majority of my watches on nylon straps today. They’re fairly sporty and are great for the summer when your wrist is sweating. I try to keep the colors fairly subdued. If I do go with a strip combination I try to make them colors that have some personal significance. As I type this I’m wearing my Hamilton khaki field auto on a plain black smart turnout strap.

I wore striped nylon or maybe acetate watchbands bought at BB or Jack Harper Custom Shop in State College PA, in college in the mid-1960s; then stopped but in the past year I have started wearing them again; I got some at JPress NH & NYC shops and again at Jack Harper. They are fun to wear, great in summer, clean up well with liquid soap & baking soda. I think the ones from Smart Turnout” made in England are the best. I have to credit JCrew for bringing them to my attention but find the JCrew bands inferior to ST.

I have the Rolex Submariner with the 60th anniversary green bezel. I’ve long considered putting it on a nylon strap, but couldn’t figure out what’d look good with an admittedly somewhat loud watch. Thought?

It was originally a functional accessory: a thrifty replacement for a watchband with colorful flair. Now it’s been reduced to a style signifier for wannabe preppies who are trying to make a statement (and enjoy looking at the homoeroticized preppie porn, ie Ralph Lauren ads) .

I have seen numerous pictures with GHWB wearing a grosgrain watch band. I have worked in offices where ties were prohibited and a striped watchband was my way of adding variation to my blue ocbd/khakis/loafer uniform. I switched it monthly, if not twice a month. Now that I can wear a tie I rarely change my band.

It was right here in the USA and I am not sure why. I guess I would say that business casual dress is the reason or maybe even “that which is not mandatory is forbidden.” Anyways, it was not an item listed in the handbook, but I was asked to refrain from wearing a tie or jacket by management.

GHWB stopped wearing the striped watch bands as well as preppy eye glass frames when he ran for national office either right before or when RR picked him for his VP running mate. They made him look too elitist.

I first remember the bands in the 60’s at Eddie Jacobs in Baltimore with the crossed tennis racquet logo. I do not remember when the stripe first arrived, although I have always worn them since soon after 1970.

The Smart Turnout in London make a nice product but are a little expensive after you pay the freight and exchange. I still like Central Watch Band @ Grand Central in the passageway beneath the Yale Club.

I wore grosgrain ribbon watchbands in the early 70s in high school. I didn’t know anyone else who did that. I also wore grosgrain ribbons in my hair, usually big bows at the end of long braids. I had never heard of preppy anything. I don’t think I heard that term until sometime in the 80s. This was in the Bay Area.

I always thought the look of a Timex “Easy Reader” on a nylon strap gave the wearer a sense of moral authority. It said you could afford a nicer watch, but that would be frivolous. It’s like driving a Volvo station wagon when everyone else is driving their newly leased Audi, BMW or Range Rover. It puts the wearer on a different level. It says I don’t need to competing for attention, That’s why it’s incongruous to wear a nylon strap on an expensive watch. It identifies the wearer as a poser. The nylon strap can be striped, as long as the colors are not too flashy, or the stripes too busy. When I used to practice law and had to impress my clients, I wore fancy watches. When I became a Judge, I put the fancy watches away and wore a Timex “Easy Reader” with a solid navy nylon strap. The strap is now faded and frayed around the edges. Attorneys come into chambers wearing expensive suits and four, sometimes five figure watches. I can tell it sometimes irked them to argue their big monied cases to a Judge wearing a twenty five dollar watch with a nylon strap. The watch puts me on a different plain. The Timex gave a bigger impression than any of the fancy watches I’ve worn. I don’t miss my fancy watches. And yes, I drive a Vovo station wagon.

These watch bands used to come embroidered with tiny little ducks, crossed tennis rackets or skis, etc. Now you can also get them, for some reason, with skull-and-crossbones (reminiscent of Yale’s Bones or Himmler’s SS, or both). The stripes supposedly signify British military units, although the colors sometimes match those of lesser organizations like bowling-league teams, NASCAR clubs, outing groups sponsored by Chicago taverns, and Ivy League colleges. Other than the plain black ones, these bands are ugly and should never be worn by anyone at any time.

I’ve been collecting and wearing grosgrain watch bands since the early 1970’s. currently have over 30 and buy any new stripe I can find. I wear them with an Omega Seamaster or my 1947 Wiitnauer chronograph.

Have one on right now (olive green though, not striped), with a Swiss Army watch. Why? On a hot summer day they don’t make your wrist sweat like a leather band would. And if they get dirty, you can take them off and scrub them clean in the sink.